Portsmouth police help woman 'locked' in own car

PORTSMOUTH — Police helped a local woman who found herself locked inside her own car for a half-hour Sunday night.

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By Joey Cresta

seacoastonline.com

By Joey Cresta

Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Joey Cresta
Posted Feb. 12, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — Police helped a local woman who found herself locked inside her own car for a half-hour Sunday night.

Police Sgt. Kuffer Kaltenborn said that the woman called at 11:20 p.m. Sunday reporting she was trapped in her 1998 Chevrolet Lumina parked on Salmon Avenue in the Hillcrest Estates mobile home park.

Kaltenborn said the woman's car, when left idle, died within a matter of minutes. It had done so earlier in the night, but she got a jumpstart and was able to drive it home, he said.

"When the car (was) put into gear, the doors automatically locked," he said.

Kaltenborn said that the woman's car went dead upon arriving home while she was parked in her driveway. She tried manually unlocking the doors, but could not get her finger under the lock to pop it open, he said.

"We didn't think it was possible," he said, but an officer was dispatched down to help her out.

Once on scene, the officer instructed her to simply use the door handle, which had a safety feature to offset the lock switch.

"The moment she tried the door handle ... it opened right up," he said.

Kaltenborn noted that the woman was freed from her car 22 minutes after her initial call to police.

"She was fine. She was very grateful," he said. "This is a service call that we take just as legitimately as any other."